Arcade Fire’s Tepid Disco: A Conversation
The indie rock giants cast a rare misfire with their fifth full-length album.
By Omar Khan and RJ Tischler
In this piece, Omar and RJ review Arcade Fire’s latest release, ‘Everything Now,’ track by track.
RJ: Arcade Fire is just one of perhaps a dozen bands that Omar introduced to me in high school (basically Omar gets credit for the entirety of my musical taste). That point aside, it’s worth emphasizing that Arcade Fire is hugely important to the both of us — which only makes the misguided efforts of this record more disappointing to hear. There are, however, some shining moments too.
Omar: I agree that it’s really important to start out by saying that I truly love Arcade Fire, and that they have been as important to me in my musical and emotional development as any band could. That being said, the best way for me to summarize what I think the underlying issue with this album is — it’s an album nearly devoid of catharsis from a band that used to do nothing but. However, as RJ notes, and I must begrudgingly agree as well, there are some shining moments. Here we go!
1. “Everything_Now (Continued)”
RJ: The abstract, fluttery production of this intro track, layered over a groovy, almost trip-hop beat and rising synth pads, is super interesting and pairs perfectly with frontman Win Butler’s timid, somber vocal delivery (“I’m in the black again / Can’t make it back again”). It feels experimental, emotional, and sincere.
Omar: What I find funny about this opening is that it’s entirely different from any other opening to an Arcade Fire album, but this new experimental energy just doesn’t go anywhere. The stuttering synth is different sonically from literally all of their other work, but for some reason they didn’t take a leap.
RJ: I wish these 46 seconds had served as a model for the entire album. Instead, at second 47, we dive into the true sound of Everything Now, which Omar adroitly named…
Omar: Tepid Disco. There isn’t a single disco song that isn’t better at doing what any of the disco moments on this album are doing.
2. “Everything Now”
RJ: Overall, this song is mostly inoffensive. But, much like common criticism of 1970s disco, this modern disco revival ultimately sounds mediocre because it seems to lack sincerity, comes across as vapid or soulless, both in music and lyricism. The vapidity of the music is clear: glittery dancing-queen piano, pan-flute chorus hook, impersonal backing vocals, etc. Careful reading of Butler’s lyrics, however, show that he is trying to express something real — a frustration with this 21st century compulsion to maximize pleasure, to avoid any empty moment. Individual lines like “Daddy, how come you’re never around?” signal that worldwide tours are proving a strain on his family. But these confessional lines are couched within vague ones and delivered with little catharsis.
Omar: The vapidness and almost trancelike way in which the sound of this song DOESN’T change over its 5 minutes would be almost excusable if the lyrics were strong enough. What bothers me about the lyrics is that there isn’t a self-awareness to them in this song. Butler is decrying maximalism and excess in sound, but God bless them, Arcade Fire made a earth-shattering, life-affirming indie hit with a chorus full of nothing but “Ohs.”
RJ: That’s a great point. Just think of “Wake Up” from their debut album.
3. “Signs of Life”
RJ: The album’s third track is one of its strongest, but it’s clear this won’t be one of Arcade Fire’s classics. Something’s missing.
Omar: This song reminds me a lot of a song called “Trouble” by Jamie T (full disclosure: he’s one of my favorite artists ever, but that is his worst song). Musically, I think it’s fine if a little non-distinct. The lyrics are where I really start to question its inclusion on the album. I find it hard to believe that Win and co. couldn’t think of MORE lyrics. The refrain “looking for signs of life” would be a good one, if it didn’t show up 11 times in 4:36.
4. “Creature Comfort”
Omar: To its credit, this is one of the only songs that I’ve gotten legitimately stuck in my head. I find the general themes of this album to be mostly frustrating and half-baked, but there seems to be a genuine acidity in this song which I appreciate. From the moment the song starts with its acid synth arpeggios, it’s clear that this will be one of the most biting songs on the album. Coupled with Butler’s oscillation between an aggressive arena rock delivery in the verses and the soothing tone of “just make it painless,” the lyrics are elevated. I think this is one of the stronger tracks on the album almost entirely because it sounds like Butler actually feels something.
RJ: But what is that something? As Jillian Mapes points out in her review for Pitchfork, Butler appears to be “humble-bragging” about saving a listener’s life. It makes me cringe a little to think that the theme of this album is how great Arcade Fire has become. More on that later.
5. “Peter Pan”
RJ: More pan-flute. Why??
Omar: I don’t hate this song. I think the percussion is interesting in the way that it’s distorted and sort of comes from all angles. It’s almost like the members of the band were just excited to have a drum machine, and wanted to try out all the settings. Also you may dislike the distorted pan flute/vocal sample that plays throughout, but I love it. It reminds me of some of the samples that Son Lux uses. However, as is the case throughout the album, the lyrics completely fall flat.
RJ: Okay, you make a good case. Like a lot of the songs on this album, I love how they start. The instrumentation feels fresh and exciting. But then, they lose momentum. “Peter Pan” falls into the same category as “Signs of Life” — pretty inoffensive, but missing something.
6. “Chemistry”
RJ: Yikes.
Omar: This might be one of the worst songs I’ve heard in years.
RJ: This sounds like a Bill Nye song lol. I think the band was like, “We’re so fucking good, we could make a polka song into an edgy rock track.”
Omar: There’s almost nothing for me to say about this song. I truly think it’s unlistenable. What. Were. They. Thinking.
7 & 8. “Infinite Content”/“Infinite_Content”
Omar: I think that it’s safe to pair these two together, since that’s clearly the idea that Arcade Fire had. I have a lot of questions and concerns about this song. These two coupled with “Chemistry” might be the low points of the album, if not Arcade Fire’s career. Let’s start off with the fact that I don’t care what anyone says, no song is musically compelling enough to basically ONLY have the lyrics “Infinite content/ We’re infinitely content.” Let alone TWO songs on the same album, right next to each other, with nearly the same name. WE GET IT.
RJ: Exactly.
Omar: This makes me roll my eyes back into my skull. There is no clever point made here. Musically, the first track is a teenage tantrum plugged into a bass amp. I can respect that from the garage band I passed in a cul-de-sac in high school, not from one of the best bands of the century. The second song is a marked improvement musically. It reminds me of the band that made it! I can almost excuse the lyrics because of the sweetness with which the instruments swirl together.
RJ: Yeah the obnoxious ‘punk rock’ first half was certainly cringey, and, like you said, the sweetness of the ‘country’ second half was a relief. The easy-going, swirling music blends with Win and Regine’s silky, pseudo-twang. But it deserves to paired with better lyricism.
9. “Electric Blue”
Omar: Here we go! This is more like it. This is one of the only songs that sounds like it could be on one of their other albums, in a good way. It sounds like a continuation of The Suburb’s “Sprawl II,” and I think this is where the album starts to genuinely improve. This is also a good example of them knowing when lyrics aren’t necessary to have an effect. Some people may find the pitched up “baby voice” singing “na na na” to be annoying, but again, it’s the band gleefully using samples that they wouldn’t have before. I support and encourage that kind of experimentation, but it’s just not sustained enough to prove to me that this album isn’t a mistake.
RJ: I wouldn’t call this a continuation of “Sprawl II,” but it is certainly an attempt at that. “Sprawl II” is the pinnacle of Arcade Fire’s catharsis, where as “Electric Blue” sounds breathy and feels restrained. It’s hard to tell if Regine is intentionally holding back, especially considering there are other points on this album where her voice does not soar like a rocket where you’d expect (such as the backing vocals on “Creature Comfort”).
10. “Good God Damn”
Omar: This song is kind of indistinct. I can see where they were going with it. The bass has a strut that feels elastic. Where this song falters for me is the lack of any conviction in the lyrics. Where on Neon Bible, Butler proclaimed “working for the church while your family dies!” Here he’s reduced to a defeated rhetorical question, “Maybe there’s a good God? damn.” There’s no force behind it, and that bothers me at least as much as the laziness of Infinite Content.
RJ: Perhaps we can see where they were going, but it certainly doesn’t get there. It sort of sounds like a demo. The simply guitar strumming on the 2s and 4s feels lethargic — perhaps that’s intentional but it doesn’t make for a compelling track. And you’re right, Omar: the lyrics, while expressing utter confusion about a high power, come off as totally resigned and therefore uninteresting.
11. “Put Your Money on Me”
RJ: This is the best song on the album. The lyrics supply the conviction and catharsis missing from the other tracks. Butler doesn’t mutter, “Umm, maybe you should put your money on me? I dunno…” akin to the ambivalence of “Good God Damn.” Instead, he outwardly demands, with a shakiness that reveals inner uncertainty, that his loved one recognize his commitment to them and offer the same in return: “Put your money on me/ ’Cause I can barely breathe.” In the album’s title track, we hear him echo how his child longs for his presence during long tours. Here, he’s responding; he’s saying, trust me, I need you to trust me. I think this is a beautifully crafted expression of something everyone can relate to — a desperate need commitment and trust.
Omar: Strangely enough, I don’t have much to say about this song. This is the only song on the album that I’ve listened to on repeat. I think it’s good on all levels. The layers of instrumentation mesh together well. The backing vocals are present, but not overwhelming, playing the Greek muses to Butler’s desperation. I just genuinely think this is a very good song!
12. “We Don’t Deserve Love”
Omar: This song has a really nice melody that comes in, but it takes WAY too long to get there. The first time I was listening to the album, I almost skipped the song because it meanders for two minutes before getting good, but it builds in a classic Arcade Fire fashion. It’s the only song that comes close to the cathartic moments of their past work.
RJ: I actually disagree. I like the first two minutes; the soft saws leading the chord progression are calming and give you time to process the catharsis of the previous track. When the melody and hook kicks in, we’re back to the album’s dominant sentiment of ambivalence, “maybe we don’t deserve love.”
13. “Everything Now (Continued)”
RJ: Again, this is the sound I wish Arcade Fire had gone for from the beginning. The fluttering synths transition smoothly into a powerful orchestral arrangement, modeling what could have been the album’s signature sonic world.
Omar: The first time listening through I thought I had accidentally put the album on repeat, which I guess is the idea? This song is basically a extended version of the intro, and I thank Arcade Fire for realizing that this bit of songwriting deserved more than 40 seconds. However, it does lead me to believe that the idea is to listen to the album on repeat because of the way this song leads back into the start of the album, but if I’m going to be honest, I really would never listen to this album on repeat.
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